Is This What It Feels Like?
by surrenderedwings
Summary: The traditional senior year camping trip at Sioux Falls High. Dean Winchester finds himself sharing a tent with an awkward member of the well-known, rich Novak family, Castiel, and with that, both of them are obliviously falling and they only have each other to pick them up.
1. Chapter 1

"Winchester!" the teacher shouted, his mustache twitching angrily. He furrowed his brow and pointed to the door of the bus, signalling for Dean to make his way inside, his eyes glaring like a demon or something. Jeez, the guy got angry at everything.

It was a warm day, and Dean sighed as he put his hand on a pretty blonde girls shoulder; the one who he'd known for all of six minutes and had already succeeded in getting a date with her, when he got back in a months time. What was her name? Emma? Emily? Something like that. He said goodbye to her and made his way towards the front door of the bus, dragging his suitcase behind him. He looked back over his shoulder and she swooned and started giggling with her friends. Dean smirked to himself. Success. He sauntered off, holding up the bus a little longer to say goodbye to the one person who really mattered.

"You didn't have to skip school just to wave me off, you know."

"Well, I had double maths first, and, well I'm going to miss you Dean." Sam smiled up at him, his eyes only a couple of inches below Dean's despite the large age gap. Dean pushed his shoulder slightly, grinning smugly.

"Shut up, you'll be fine with Bobby. It's only a month."

"Last time you went away, Bobby turned into some sort of housewife, it was freakin' scary. He went all domestic and invited Ellen over to make dinner. He was wearing a frickin' apron, dude!"

"Look, you'll be oka-" The noise of the bus starting up cut Dean off. "Shit man, I have to go. You'll be fine, you can just text me."

His suitcase wheels clicking in rhythm against the stones of the sidewalk, he strolled his way down to the steps of the bus, girls pressing their faces against the windows to get a look at him. Dean smiled at one of them, leaving her blushing and giggling nervously into her palm. Dean kept the smile on his face as he stepped inside, smiling at various people as he walked past. He leaned over Kevin, a nerdy Asian kid Dean didn't know all that well, and stuck his head out of the window.

"Bitch!" He yelled, looking in Sam's direction. He saw Sam's frown turn into a grin.

"Jerk!" He shouted back, cupping his hands around his mouth. Dean felt the corners of his mouth upturn a little; God he loved Sammy, despite how annoying he could be at times. He almost laughed when he saw Kevin's look of disgust at having Dean's junk in his face. Dean shrugged it off and when he turned around, he caught the light brown eyes of Jo Harvelle, and smiled. He strolled down to the back of the bus, where he'd always sat for the past three years. The seat next to where he usually sat was untaken every morning due to the fact that Dean had saved it for Sammy this whole time. The kid had been so excited when Dean was going to high school that he'd made Dean promise to save him a seat on the bus for when his turn came. Dean couldn't say no, come on, he'd do anything for Sammy. But, after years of sitting next to nobody on the bus, it had become rather tedious, especially when there were so many hot girls willing to take the space.

In Dean's school, Sioux Falls High, there was, admittedly, a bit of a clique problem, especially on the buses. Dean had figured out of his first day of freshman year that where you sit on the bus is crucial. Once you pick your seat, that's where you sit. On Dean's bus, there's the cheerleaders at the front on the left, the people who find homework fun at the front on the right, the jocks, band geeks and stoners upstairs, and Dean's group of friends at the back. Jo was his best friend along with Gabriel, and then Anna, Gabriel's sister, Chuck, Lisa, Ash and Becky; if you can count Becky. She looked, to be blunt, terrified at the prospect of sitting with this group of people almost every day, and Dean knew this was because in the past she had hardly had any friends, but she was Chuck's girlfriend, so Dean didn't mind her being around. Despite all of his friends sitting around him, Dean frickin' hated buses, and he just wished that Bobby didn't class him as an "Irresponsible Idjit" and would let him drive the Impala to school.

Not that the Impala would be any use where he and his grade were going for the month anyway. Camping. Freakin' camping. Dean had heard about the trip and at first been excited; hot girls, middle of the woods, and tents. But, after he learnt that the girls would be sleeping in different tents, he had been slightly disheartened. However, he and Bobby had managed to scrape up the money to pay for the trip after months of extra mechanic work, and so he looked forward to it anyway, despite the fact that it was supposed to be an educational trip. A certain amount of research had to be done, and a long report on the trip afterwards, but that could wait.

Hoping that he'd be able to share a tent with Gabriel or Ash instead of some random loser, he went to sit in his normal place next to the window when he tripped over a black suitcase on the floor of the bus, right in front of his usual seat. He looked up, slightly embarrassed, and noticed two feet next to the suitcase, and then legs, and then a torso and it was around then that Dean noticed that somebody was in his seat. _Somebody was in his seat._

Jo and Lisa sat together, and then next to them Chuck and Becky, Gabriel, Anna and Ash sat in front, and Dean sat behind Jo and Lisa, in his seat at the back near the window, and that was just the way it worked and Dean was beyond pissed off that this someone had thought it was even acceptable to sit there. He dragged his eyes upwards, scanning over the tan trenchcoat, obviously a couple of sizes too big, and the shirt and the suit and the blue tie. The kid was wearing a suit. A fucking suit. In the middle of September on a warm day, along with a coat. He was facing the window, and Dean didn't even think that he'd noticed he'd done anything wrong. Dean glared at Jo, who had signs of amusement spread all over her face.

"You bitch. Why'd you let him sit there?" he hissed as quietly as possible, turning around to check that he hadn't heard. "He doesn't sit there, I sit there, that's how it fuckin' works."

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Dean, he's new. He doesn't understand, he just sat there, and he looks lonely."

"Well where do you expect me to sit?!"

"Just sit next to him in the seat you save for Sam! Jesus, Dean, I swear you're mentally five."

"Fine." Dean grumbled, and plonked himself down next to the trenchcoat wearing stranger, trying not to acknowledge him at all. He didn't even turn around, and just kept looking out of the window, earphones in and trenchcoat hanging loosely around his seemingly slim figure.

"Jesus, would you look at Meg?" Dean exclaimed a little too loudly, and Lisa looked in between the seats to glare at him.

"Shush Dean. But yeah, we've noticed. She's been sticking her ass in Michael's face while flirting with Lucifer for ten minutes."

"Such a slut." Dean heard Jo whisper from in front, and Lisa made a noise of agreement. Dean coughed a little and leaned over the front of the seats to rest his head in between Lisa and Jo's.

"Thought you liked Meg?" Dean said sarcastically, looking down at Jo with a smug look.

"Shut up. Ever since she slept with Garth, I don't know. I don't trust her. Because no-one sleeps with Garth."

"Jo has a crush on Garth." Dean sing-songed to Jo, and she pushed his face back while hissing at him.

"I do not." She said, folding her arms. Dean chuckled to himself as he sat back in his seat. Jo totally had a crush on Garth. Sitting back against the cheap material, he tried to relax for the long bus ride all the way to the campsite, but he was soon interrupted by a shout from a few seats away.

"Cassie! You ok bro?" Gabriel stood up. It seemed that his eyes were focused on Dean, and he made a confused expression. Cas? Who the hell is Cas?

"My name is Dean, Gabe. You have known me for three years."

"I'm not talking to you, you dumbass." Gabriel said, pulling a lollipop from his pocket. He put it in his mouth, and said in a slightly fractured voice "I'm talking to Cassie."

"Who's Cassie?" Dean asked, squinting at Gabriel like he was stupid. Gabriel said nothing but pointed behind him, towards the dark haired boy in the suit and trenchcoat, who was still listening to music, oblivious to any conversation.

"My frickin brother, Dean. Cassie. C-A-S-S-I-E." Gabriel enunciated. He took another lick of his lollipop rather extravagantly. "Well, it's actually Castiel, but Cassie is easier."

"Wait- just hold up a minute." Dean furrowed his brow. "You have another sibling? Jesus, Gabe your parents must have-"

"Don't- Don't say that. It gives me the heebie-jeebies. But anyway, get his attention for me, I need to know if he's ok."

"No, he's listening to music, I'm not just gonna yank his earph-" Dean turned his neck around quickly to face Gabriel's brother, and pulled out one of his headphones. Dean put it in his own ear as Jo turned around to raise one eyebrow at his sudden action. "Dude, is this ACDC?!" he exclaimed, looking at the phone in Castiel's hand. Castiel looked up at Gabriel, confused, and Gabriel nodded at him in encouragement.

"Yes." Said an undeniably innocent and yet gravelly voice, and Dean was slightly taken aback.

"Well then I've finally found a person who appreciates good mu-" Dean said, on his face a one-sided smile, but his breath got caught in his chest when he looked up at Castiel. He stumbled on his words a bit, making very quiet incoherent noises until he noticed Jo and Lisa smile at each other in that _girl_ way. That look that somehow says a thousand words, that look that Dean finds very hard to completely understand.

"I told you." Jo whispered to Lisa, but Dean was too busy staring to notice. His eyes opened wider as he saw Castiel's. Two blue sapphires looked back at him, and for Dean, it was like a camera focusing on the subject, the background blurred and yet one thing so clear, like the blue of Castiels eyes. He tried opening his lips but no sound came out, and after a few seconds of looking slightly like a fish, Dean's stupor was interrupted by multiple calls of his name.

"Dean! For fucks sake. DEAN!" Gabriel yelled from just a few seats away. "Stop staring into my brothers eyes and get his attention for me."

"Gabriel, I think I've figured out that you want my attention now, so I highly doubt it is necessary for Dean to inform me that you wish to speak to me." A voice spoke out, and Dean turned around again, realizing again that the deep voice did, in fact, come from Castiel.

"I just want to know if you're OK, you know being sat next to Dean and all. You can move over here if you like."

"Hey, why the fuck would he have a problem sitting-"

"I think I'm ok." Castiel said quickly and pointedly, using his eyes to gesture for Gabriel to sit down. He looked at Dean very nervously for a second before putting his earphones back in and turning away from him to face the window.

Dean tapped Jo on the shoulder and looked through the gap between her and Lisa's seats. "Is he alright? When did he even join the school? I've never seen him before."

"I'm sure he's fine Dean, he's just very nervous. He came here a couple weeks ago at the start of the year." Jo replied.

"Then how come I haven't seen him around?"

"Because you're a dumbass and he's really intelligent. Like, really, really intelligent. He spends most days in the library."

"I didn't even know the school had a library." Dean squinted at Jo with the one eye that she could see.

"My point exactly. Anyway, why do you want to know so much about him?"

Dean made a noise that sounded like something along the lines of "Pft" and sat back in his seat. A loud distant sniff came from the front of the bus and Dean had to hold in a laugh. The teacher sat at the front of the bus, his grey moustache looking similar to a dead mouse lay on his top lip; not that you could see it much anyway, seeing as it was overshadowed by his absolutely huge nose. He was spending the time completing the crossword puzzle in the newspaper, as usual, but after a few hours of the trip, he stood up.

"Be quiet." He said, and within a second, the whole bus was silent. The teacher hated Dean; and Dean supposed he had good reason. He was a maths teacher, and Dean would probably be worse at maths than he already was if he actually tried. But, seeing as whenever he even made eye contact with him, his moustache started twitching like it always does when he's angry and Dean supposed that maybe it was because of something more than his failure at algebra. Dean hated him too; but if there was one thing he could give to him, it's that he could silence a class almost immediately, plainly because nearly everyone was scared of him.

"Seeing as last years camping trip went absolutely terribly due to the amount of… wrongdoings that went on, we've established a new rule." He went on quietly. "Now, as you know, the girls will be separated from the boys, as always. However, if we let you pick who you share your tent with like we did last year, we may have the same problems. That is why I have devised a list of partners for you to share your tents with. There will be two rooms in each tent, so there should be no problems either way." The majority of the class groaned. "Shut up. All of you. I'm going to pass the list around so that you can see who you're going to be sharing with. There will be no arguing. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a simultaneous, monotonous "Yes Sir." And with that the normal chatter reappeared. Dean sat back in his seat and sighed. He was hoping that he'd be able to share a tent with Gabriel seeing as he's actually his friend and he always has food, but seeing as the teachers hated him, he realized there was no chance. Strangely enough, the teachers that hated Dean were always particularly fond of his friends, much to his annoyance, and Gabriel and Jo were usually their weak spots.

The sheet was passed around the front of the bus, and Dean listened to equal amounts of happy squeals between cheerleaders and annoyed groans as people who didn't like each other found out they had to share a tent. Gabriel grabbed the list from Kevin's hands and groaned loudly.

"Me and Kevin in a tent? Really?"

"Don't be a dick, Gabe, Kevin's a cool guy. Knows a lot of stuff about stuff." Ash slurred. He took the list from Gabe and looked at his own name. "Hey Chuck, we're sharing a tent!" He flung the sheet someplace to his left and Jo caught it with one hand skilfully.

"Yes!" Jo exclaimed. "Becky, me and you are sharing a tent!" Becky looked positively terrified, however happy to be sharing with someone she knew. At least she knew Jo would listen absent-mindedly to her ramblings about "Shipping" and "OTPs" and "Feels." Jo passed the sheet back to Dean without looking, and Dean looked right to the bottom, where the W's were. Willis, Williams… Winchester. Next to Deans name was a name that he wasn't expecting at all.

Castiel Novak.

Dean shuffled in his seat a little uncomfortably. He spied on Castiel for a second with the corner of his eye, and sighed. If he was just sharing a tent with Jo or Ash or Gabe like he thought he would, then there wouldn't be any fucking problems. He placed his hand above Castiels which lay beside him and was going to tap it to get his attention when he hesitated.

"Gabe?"

"Yeah?"

"Me and Castiel." Dean swallowed. "We're sharing a tent according to this and how-"

"How what?" Gabe replied with a mischevious smile. His eyes flashed to Jo quickly.

"How do I tell him?"

"Oh my god, Dean, you're stupider than you look sometimes. Just tap his arm and tell him, he's not a fucking alien." Gabriel said. Dean felt a shift next to him and turned around quickly only to jump in his seat and have the breath caught in his chest as two piercing blue eyes were just… there. Right next to him.

"Castiel. Erm, personal space?"

"My apologies." He said quietly, almost a whisper, and moved back to him original position. "I was just curious as to whether you required my attention, seeing as you have been gripping my hand particularly tightly for the past minute." He said emotionlessly. Dean heard a snicker from in front of him, obviously coming from Jo, but he didn't say anything.

"Dean. Dean. Let go of him." He told himself repeatedly, but it took a while before he came back to his senses and realised exactly what he was doing. He was_ holding a dudes hand. _On a _bus_. _In front of everyone._ He pulled away quickly, feeling slightly tactless but the longer he held onto him, the longer he'd have to cope with Jo and, if he saw, Gabriel's taunts about it.

"Yeah, I- er- was just going to tell you that we're- er- sharing a tent."

"Really? Well, I guess it only seems appropriate. I had thought so anyway, Gabriel informed me that he had told the teacher that I should share a tent with a certain someone, so he must have meant you." Castiel said innocently, and Dean whipped his head around to glare at Gabriel, who turned away from the scene, snickering.

The ride zoomed by a lot faster than Dean thought. Castiel slept through the majority of the journey and Dean felt slightly awkward. He could have fell asleep, but he'd have to lean slightly against Castiel's shoulder, and that was something he didn't want to do. Instead, he took to making mindless chat with the others, and staring out of the window, watching the scenery change from city to country to highways to small towns. By the time the view of buildings had almost entirely turned into trees and the morning light had faded to evening darkness, everyone was positively exhausted, and Dean was getting pissed. Castiel had slept the whole fucking time, and god-dammit if Dean had to share a tent with the guy he at least wanted to get to know him better.

After dragging a very tired Castiel off the coach, and walking to the campsite, Dean just felt lethargic and all he wanted to do was sleep. However, they still needed to put the tents up, and an apparently very enthusiastic teacher was trying to be motivational about it.

"Come on, boys and girls, we have all the tents here, grab one and put it up!" He said, swinging his arm. The whole class groaned.

"Fuckin' tents." Dean grumbled to himself as he grabbed a bag with the tent inside. "Fuckin' teachers." He turned around and bumped into Castiel, who was stood extremely close, his trenchcoat flapping around his knees in the breeze. Dean put a hand to his chest. "Fuckin' Castiel."

The guy seemed so annoying at first that Dean wondered how he was going to cope for a whole month in the same tent as him. Plus, he was Gabriel's brother, so he was going to be with them at all times. It seemed he was shy, highly educated, but also socially awkward; everything that Dean wasn't.

"Dean, I don't see what sexual intercourse with me has to do with any of this." A deep voice said from behind Dean as he made his way towards an empty space on the campsite.

Dean sighed and started pulling the tent out of the bag. He decided that maybe he'd prefer to be at home wearing aprons with Bobby than be stuck in a tent with a nerdy dude in a trenchcoat.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here is chapter 2! I'm sorry for the long wait, it won't always be that long! I hope you enjoy, and a huge thanks to Hopelessly British, Fiona Church, AngelWolf95, liife2uck2, obsession-is-my-life, JDeppIsMyLovely, and thenobelunicorn for the lovely, encouraging reviews!

Reviews, favourites and follows are of course welcome and appreciated! Lots of love ^_^

Sacha

x

* * *

"Go and help Dean-o put up the tent!" Gabriel waved his hands in Castiel's direction. "Go on! You're intelligent, it's not hard!"

"His name is Dean, the extra 'o' on the end is hardly necessary." Castiel looked down at his shoes. "I also highly doubt that IQ affects ability to put up a tent. I've never been camping before."

"Well then, at least go and keep him company."

"I'm not company. People don't like being around me. He's probably better off alone." Castiel sighed and squinted at Gabriel a little. Gabriel strolled over to him, his own tent under his arm. He placed a comforting hand on Castiels trenchcoat clad shoulder, and looked at him as if sympathetic.

"I'll give you a lollipop if you go help Dean."

"Be quiet, Gabriel! I am not a child, in fact I'm only ten months younger than you and Anna. You don't need to bribe me with sweets."

"Just go, Cassie."

"Fine, I'm going." Castiel pursed his lips. He wasn't at all comfortable in most situations at the best of times, and being around Dean and staying in a tent with him was just out of the question. Dean was popular; everyone knew his name, he was the "Dean Winchester," The good looking guy who was good at football yet never tried out because he just didn't care, the guy with the cool Chevy Impala that every girl wanted a ride in. Castiel felt, in all honesty, completely and utterly inferior. The only thing Castiel could admit to having was his intelligence; but then again, who valued it? He took a deep breath and continued along the muddy grass in the evening dusk.

"Do you require any- do you require any assistance?" Castiel coughed into his hand nervously, asking even though he could see the tent almost already put up.

"Nah, I'm okay thanks. Been camping with my little brother too many times."

"I've never been camping before."

"What?" Dean looked legitimately surprised. "Not even once?" Castiel shook his head.

"I've never had the opportunity."

"Well, it's always fun; and, we've got a whole month here, so I probably won't even start the research 'til the last minute. Too many girls, too much time, eh?" Dean smirked.

"I don't know what you mean." Castiel turned his head and squinted a little.

"Yeah, course you don't." Dean continued smiling to himself while stamping in the last peg. It was almost like Castiel couldn't possibly be real; Dean had never met anyone quite like him. Not to say he was particularly too far out of the ordinary, but Dean felt he was just skirting around the edge of that line. He was like a character out of a book that doesn't get as much attention as needed; like he has an untold story but doesn't know how to tell it. Dean stepped back and admired his work.

"Not bad, 'least the school provided us with decent tents." Dean looked inside through the zip. He turned around to face Castiel, and hesitated for a moment before looking him right in the eyes. "You don't actually mind sharing a tent with me, right?"

"Of course not. Anna tells me you're good in bed, so I'm assuming she means you won't be a noisy sleeper." Castiel's face had less expression than a brick, and Dean raised one eyebrow, actually a little startled. He seemed totally oblivious, and Dean had no idea as to whether he was joking.

"Anna said that?"

"She did. She was actually telling somebody over the phone, but she didn't notice I was there for the entirety of the phone call. I can be rather invisible apparently." Castiel shrugged his shoulders. The kid really was clueless. Dean had no reply and so decided to change the topic of conversation. He felt that Castiel wasn't really all that comfortable with conversation anyway, so he tried to keep it short. Maybe Castiel would be more comfortable around Gabriel. Dean looked towards Gabriel, who was stood with his arm around Ash, extravagantly explaining something which Dean was too far away to hear.

"Let's just go see what Gabe's up to." Dean strolled off, followed shortly by Castiel, who didn't want to be left alone at risk of another person introducing themselves to him. He shuddered at the thought; social activity was definitely not his forte.

"And it was THIS big- no, no, I swear to god, and then she-" Gabriel couldn't finish off the story he was telling Ash because he was laughing too hard, his face a shade of bright pink and tears of mirth in his eyes. He wiped them away and with a sigh, told Ash he'd tell him later. Ash strolled off to find Jo.

"Hey Dean-o. Hey Cassie. You okay?"

"I'm feeling content. Do you know what your report is going to be about yet?"

"All you ever talk about is homework, homework, homework! Loosen up Cassie, you overwork yourself!" Gabriel smiled meekly at him. Dean noticed that Gabriel was a lot more kind and sympathetic when talking to Castiel; it was almost patronizing in a way, though Castiel didn't seem to notice.

"But I really should get started, there's too much to do."

"Cassie, no. It's the first night of the camping trip, we aren't going to be doing any work. As long as we get enough research for the report then it's all fine and dandy. You could come around the campfire with all of us?" Castiel swallowed nervously and Gabriel noticed. "You like Jo right? Jo's your friend. I'm your friend."

Castiel looked ridiculously nervous, and Gabriel put his arm around him and walked just out of earshot of Dean, leaving him left alone looking slightly perturbed and offended. Gabriel put a hand on Castiel's shoulder.

"Look, there's no need to be all nervous about it. We're all your friends, okay?"

"I don't have friends."

"Yes you do Cassie, it's your senior year. In case you haven't noticed, you've gained attention from the ladies too. Come on, Cassie, is it any wonder really? You're a Novak, in runs in the blood, man! I'm here for you if you need me, okay?"

Cas swallowed. "Okay."

"Now I'm gonna go find Ash, I've gotta finish telling him about that girl called Tamara who-"

"I don't want to know, Gabriel."

"Okay, fine. Just stick with Dean. It's getting late anyway." Gabriel shrugged and pulled another lollipop out of his pocket, he started to walk away, but was interrupted.

"Wait."

"Yes?" He turned back around to face Castiel. "Is everything okay?"

"About Dean…" Castiel looked around apprehensively. "I know he's all 'Mr Popular' and all that. Would he really actually want to be friends with- with me?"

"Cassie, seriously, don't worry about Dean. He's a really good guy, but he's dumb as a brick and all bark no bite. Seriously, Dean's great. Go talk to him, might as well get to know him, you are stuck in a tent with him for a month."

Castiel nodded, the wind catching his hair and blowing it back a little. He attempted to flatten it back down in frustration. There was something ridiculously exasperating about Castiel's hair; thick and dark and slightly unruly, it would often never flatten down or stay as he wanted it. It was constantly slightly messed up and he felt it contradicted his personality and how he wanted to look very much indeed. He gave up on running his fingers through it and left it to blow around in the breeze. By the time he'd found Dean – stood outside his tent talking to Jo and Becky – Castiel thought he looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards.

"You're looking a little windswept, Castiel." Dean chuckled a little. "Suits you." He smiled. Becky squealed a little. She whispered something rather unsubtly to Jo, and she nodded in agreement. Dean didn't quite hear what was said, but he was sure the word "ship" was in there somewhere. Wondering what on earth could be so important and secretive about a boat, Dean shrugged and said his goodbyes to Jo and Becky. He unzipped the front of the tent and stepped inside. Castiel noticed his suitcase already inside, lined up next to Deans.

"I thought I'd bring it in for you. It's really heavy, how much did you bring?" Dean squinted a little at Castiel. It was late evening and the sky was turning a heavy shade of dark blue, with barely any clouds and the constellations showing bright amongst the white stars. Dean sighed in relief when he remembered the torch he'd shoved into his suitcase last minute.

"Not that much. I've got another couple of suits, some shirts and ties, waistcoats etc. and also my laptop and research equipment. Other than that, not much."

"Why did you bring suits? We're not going camping in Buckingham palace!" Dean smirked.

"I don't really own any other clothes. I always dress like this; anything else is just… weird." Castiel nodded and shrugged the trenchcoat off of his shoulders, folding it very neatly indeed in just a matter of seconds.

"Well, each to their own I guess." Dean hesitated for a moment, before asking "How old are you, Castiel? Because if you're Gabriel and Anna's siblings, then how are you all in senior year?"

"Well Gabriel and Anna are twins, as you know. Then I was born ten months afterwards. People say I was just some sort of left-overs." He laughed awkwardly. "Just as something comical, of course," he sighed and looked down at his shoes.

"Are you okay?" Dean walked closer to him. He heard Gabriel calling his name from outside, but chose to ignore him. "You've looked a little uncomfortable all day and I just can't help but wonder if there's anything wrong?"

"No, Dean, I'm fine, honestly. I was home-schooled for all of my life up until a couple of weeks ago, therefore I am obviously not used to many social situations. I will be okay, though."

"Really, your whole life?" Dean was slightly taken aback; after going to many middle schools throughout his life but finally settling for one middle school after moving in with Uncle Bobby, he couldn't imagine life without school at all. School was a breeze for Dean. Although not the most intelligent, he excelled in technology and was popular enough to make it through high school without anything drastically ruining his life, and that was enough.

"Yes." Castiel replied unenthusiastically. He looked almost embarrassed about the whole thing; Dean was unsure as to why, and really wanted to find out more, but Gabriel was calling his name from outside the tent, and he couldn't ignore him for much longer.

"Dean! Dean! Ash set up a fire and everyone's got marshmallows and beers. You coming down?"

"Yeah, we'll be there in a couple minutes." Dean yelled through the netting, and with that, Gabriel was running off excitedly towards the rest of their friends.

"You are coming, right?" Dean asked. Castiel looked apprehensive.

"I don't think so. I just don't know you all well enough yet."

"Well what are you going to do? You can't just sit in a tent all by yourself!" Dean was absolutely bewildered by Castiel's strange attitude towards people and friends and other teenagers. He wondered if the guy even actually knew what fun was, and reminded himself to ask Gabriel why the hell Castiel was so uptight later on.

"Yes I can. I have to make a start on my project anyway." Castiel made his way into his own compartment of the tent, dragging his suitcase behind him. "See you later, Dean." Castiel gave him a wry smile and then disappeared behind the zipped up fabric before Dean had chance to say goodbye. He shrugged and headed out of the tent, strolling across the decomposing leaves towards the small, flickering light, surrounded by chatting people.

"Jo, throw me a beer!" He shouted to the petite blonde leaning into the cooler. She grabbed one and threw it to him, sauntering over with a smirk on her face.

"Be quiet, you idiot, we're not supposed to be drinking. But of course, the teachers went to set their tents up across the field and they're probably asleep already. Just be quiet and we won't get caught!"

"Okay, okay! Calm down, I'm sorry for being enthusiastic, jeez." He smiled down at her and pushed her on the shoulder a little bit. "You think this is gonna be fun?"

"Hell yes. No parents, booze, friends, teachers who can't control us. It's gonna be good!"

"Yeah, I hope so. I think-" Dean was just about to continue when Gabriel poked his head in between the two of them and grinned.

"Dean-o! Jo! How are ya'll doing this fine, lovely, slightly drenched in alcohol night?" he sat down next to Dean and bit the cap off of his next beer. "I've missed being outdoors. Let's make some memories, eh? It's what this camping trip is for, even the teachers know it. It's something to talk about other than homework throughout senior year anyway."

"I've been looking forward to this for a while. Anyway, Gabe, what I've been meaning to ask since we got here- not that I mean to pry- but what's up with Castiel? I've never met anyone like him, he's so mysterious." Dean said.

"You sound like a middle aged woman talking about a romance novel." Jo commented, followed by spurts of laughter from Gabriel.

"Shut up! You know what I mean! He's all quiet, and he wouldn't come over to the campfire with us because he needed to 'do research' or something, like come on! Who does that?"

"Cassie does! He's always overworked himself, it's just the way he is. We're trying to get him to stop it though; he's going to pass all of his exams whether he tries or not, and he needs to focus on his social life a little more. I honestly don't think he's ever had a friend in his life. It's unhealthy, you know?"

"What, like never? " Dean raised his eyebrows. Gabriel shook his head, his brown floppy hair falling over his forehead.

"Nuh-uh. It's always been work, work, work with Cassie. He's the cleverest person I know, probably knows everything to be honest."

"He seems really smart. Oblivious to some things though." Dean shook his head a little and swigged his beer. Jo was sat my his side, listening intently with a slight smirk on her face. She signalled for Lisa to come over and sit by them, and she made her way over.

"In what way?" Gabriel responded without looking.

"Like he's really smart, sure, but he just doesn't _get_ some things. He's like a really intelligent baby. A really intelligent baby in a trenchcoat."

Gabriel laughed a little more than he should have, and Dean was slightly taken aback. Gabriel clapped his hands. "That was a perfect description of my brother. Seriously" he wiped a tear away from his eye; Gabriel had always been the type to laugh way too much at absolutely everything which had the potential to even be slightly funny. He chuckled again quietly. "Baby in a trenchcoat. Love it."

The night passed on and after one too many beers for Garth – which in his case was literally just one beer – he was passed out on the floor next to the fire and that was when it was decided that they should head back to their tents for the night. The midnight skies were becoming darker and the air colder; Dean had goose bumps across his forearms. There was a low murmur as the slightly tipsy teens attempted to gather their belongings and make their way back to the right tents in the forest darkness.

"Hopefully they won't wake us up before nine tomorrow. I'll throw one of Sam's famous bitch fits if they do. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, Jo." Dean wrapped his arms around the shoulders of his best friend and gave her a tight squeeze.

"Bye, Dean." Jo looked almost disappointed, and Dean was considerably confused but just let it drop because Jo could be mood swingy and strange at times. He shrugged and stumbled a little across the twigs and disintegrating leaves lining the forest floor. They crunched beneath his feet as he made each slow step. When he reached the clearing where the tents were situated, he found their tent underneath the large oak tree and next to a tiny ditch in the floor; Dean had figured that if they were going to be in a tent around lots of other people in similar tents, they'd need some way of remembering which one was theirs, and Castiel was utterly clueless about anything concerning common sense.

Upon reaching the tent, he looked down at his watch and saw that it was just past midnight, and after a ridiculously long day despite the amount of sitting down which had taken place, Dean was exhausted. He realised that the teachers would probably be waking them all up and showing them to the shower and toilet area located near the clearing before nine, and Dean was undoubtedly not up for that; not with a probable hangover waiting for him. He unzipped his way into the tent, padding quietly inside as to not rouse Castiel.

"Castiel?" he whispered, waiting for a reply. None came, and Dean assumed that he must be asleep and so left him be. The area was silent; despite the crazy stories that Dean had heard every single year from seniors after the legendary Sioux Falls senior year camping trip, the place seemed quiet. He stripped off his clothes, leaving them in a crumpled pile in the corner of the tent, too tired to do anything else. The tents had three rooms; although tiny, they were still separate spaces and Dean felt tremendously appreciative for that. Dean let his eyelids close a little, and could have fell asleep there and then, but he unzipped the door to one of the 'rooms' and almost collapsed inside when he was greeted with a slight yelp.

"Dean! You startled me." Castiel looked up from his textbook; Dean stood in the doorway, his eyes glistening in the torchlight. He smiled a little, looking down at Castiel. Castiel let his eyes shy away from Deans when he noticed his nakedness, and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to avoid eye contact.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in here, sorry." Dean mumbled tiredly, placing his head in his hand. He just started to zip the tent back up and head to the other room when Castiels voice pulled him back.

"Wait."

"Yeah?"

"I- er- I'm sorry I didn't come out to the campfire with you all before, I didn't mean to seem rude when I rejected your offer. Of course it was nice of you but I really just didn't want to annoy you will my presence. I'm sorry." Castiel looked down at his hands.

"Don't apologise, I know what you meant, but we'll become good friends, you and I. I promise. You're-" Dean put his head in his hand, stumbling on his words a little. "You're a great guy, Cas. Bet all the girls love you too, I mean come on, face like yours? You won't annoy _anyone_ with your presence." He rambled on, slurring just a tad. Castiel smirked and laughed a little, breathing out heavily.

"I highly doubt that you're telling the truth there, Dean. Just go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"I am, I am! Goodnight, Cas."

"Goodnight Dean."


End file.
